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470 Eva Krekovicová, Zuzana Panczová Although the self-image of the "denationalized" Slovak can be found in Cernokñaënik already during the period of V. Paulíny-Tóth s editorship, in a cartoon from 1863 (ill. 212), this was not yet the figure of the “Slovak” madarén. It depicted the son of a poor cobbler, dressed in expensive bourgeois dress, embarrassed by his origins. The picture emphasizes the social rather than the ethnic dimension of the “renegade” (odrodilec). The image of the Slovak madarén appears later. It is closely tied to the heteroimage of the Magyar conceived as “enemy of the Slovak nation.” Like the image of the Jewish madarén, it appeared in Cernoknazník in 1876. The madarón in this case represented a specific character of the cultural, scientific, and political scene in Hungary in that period: nobles whose families came from the territory of Slovakia (as could be seen in their families" names) but who actively supported the unity of the Hungarian nation. For it was during that period that, with the support of the Hungarian government, there began to take shape the institutional bases for realizing the project of a unified Hungarian political nation. After the closing of Matica slovenskd, the beginning of the 1880s saw the foundation of cultural-educational associations in the territories of non-Magyar ethnic groups. These associations made it one of their goals to promote Hungarian patriotism and, often, to accelerate ethnic assimilation. In Slovakia such associations were active in various individual counties, but the most prominent association, the so-called Felvidéki Magyar Közművelődési Egyesület (the Upper-Hungarian Magyar Educational Association), or FMKE, founded in 1882, was active throughout the ten counties of Upper Hungary. Its chief role was to engage Slovak youth, for example, by organizing day-care centers where the Hungarian language was spoken, which was meant to aid in assimilating children of Slovak origin. Another action was singled out for especially sharp criticism in Slovak public discourse as well as abroad: the humanitarian transfer of poor children from Upper Hungary to Magyar families in the Lower Land,” which was interpreted as a most outrageous manifestation of forced Magyarization. The year 1885 saw the foundation of the Magyarországi Tót Közművelődési Egyesület (the Hungarian-Nationwide Slovak Educational Association), or MTKE, which was meant as a substitute for the scientific, cultural, and educational activity of the banned Matica slovenská but was based on the idea of a unified Hungarian political nation and funded in part from public fundraising efforts originally meant for Matica slovenská (Podrimavsky, Hapák 1992: 622-623). The foundation and operation of these associations met with heavy resistance on the part of Slovak national activists, as could be seen in Cernoknaznik in a caricature of “Femka” as a witch or a hideous woman devouring Slovaks and their children (ill. 213). The aforementioned representatives of these associations, members of noble families from Upper Hungary, were “demasked” not only by Slovakizing 2 Lower Land, Dolnd zem in Slovak, Alföld in Hungarian—a region south of central Hungary or, from the perspective of Slovakia, the general area downstream and south of Slovakia (translator's note).
